23 Weeks

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

Today I'm 23 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and I'm really starting to feel it! I'm starting to feel pretty uncomfortable, and have very little energy left. I'm almost constantly exhausted now. It's not uncommon in the past couple weeks to find me in bed by 7:30 most nights. Some days I'll have spurts of energy (thankful that today is one of those days!) but most often I'm just so tired! I was actually worried a week or so ago that maybe I was starting to get anemic, when day after day that week I felt like a complete zombie. I think I just had a small summer cold though, or maybe the babies were going through a growth spurt, because while I'm still often tired, it's not nearly as bad as last week!

Aches and pains have become a regular part of my day lately. I'm still getting tons of braxton hicks contractions every day, and I often have round ligament pain. Hip pain is also a nightly occurrence! I've taken to sleeping with 2 regular pillows and a body pillow between my knees to help alleviate the pain. Some nights it works...some nights not so much! New to this week is pressure in my pelvis whenever I stand. I think baby A must have turned head down sometime Sunday night when this pain started. If I've been sitting or lying down for a while, it can be down right painful!

The heat wave we've been having these last couple of weeks have added to my discomfort, as I'm starting to swell a little bit. It also makes it extremely difficult for me to do anything outside for to long. Luckily I think that things are starting to cool down today. I'm crossing my fingers that some of the swelling goes away with the heat!

Things aren't all painful and horrible though! The babies are so strong now. I feel them kicking and hiccuping all the time! Literally ALL THE TIME! I think one sleeps while the other kicks away, because they never seem to rest! I even feel them all night long! Sometimes they wake me up! It's nice to have such a reassurance all day long that they are growing strong. They like when I eat something sweet too. They both seem to go crazy anytime I eat chocolate or something like that!

Today we had another ultra sound to check on growth, and a regular OB visit. Both babies looked great on the u/s. Baby A is head down (which is probably why I've been feeling pressure) with the head slightly on the right side, spine going up the middle of my belly, and feet on the left side. Baby B is still transverse, with the head slightly lower than the butt. The head is on the far right, with the feet up on the left. So both babies feet are right about under my left rib cage...which would explain why I get kicked in the ribs so often over there...two sets of feet kicking me in the same spot! Baby A's heart beat is 150 bpm, and baby B 's is 138bpm. The old wives tale is that over 140 = a girl, and under 140 = a boy. It'll be interesting to see if that holds true with these guys. (Though Lily had a lower beat rate, and she is obviously a girl! :) ) Baby A is now weighing in at 1 lb 6 oz, and Baby B at 1 lb 4 oz...so they are much closer in weight this time! That's reassuring! So I've got over 2.5 lbs of baby in me right now! I have a couple not so great pictures from the u/s, but we haven't gotten a chance to scan them yet. I'll be sure to post them as soon as they scanned though! But honestly, while the tech doing the u/s was very night, she was not very good at getting good pictures of the babies!

The best part of the ultra sound today was seeing them move around. Both we're being naughty and kept wiggling away from the tech. She had a hard time getting pictures of both of their hearts because they wouldn't stay still long enough for her to get good pictures of the 4 chambers! They were definitely both moving a bunch the whole time...I kept feeling them move too! The sweetest part was when we saw that baby A had the hiccups! Lily use to get them all the time while I was pregnant with her, but we never saw her get them during an u/s before, so it was really neat to be able to feel and see the hiccups at the same time!

Everything at my doctors appointment was good too, so we are right on track! I had a cervix check, (I'm going to be getting them every other appointment with her) and it was still long, closed and firm, which is all good news! I'm relieved to see that the braxton hick contractions haven't been doing anything!

So another 4 more weeks till my next u/s and doctors appointment, then I think things start picking up and I see my doctor every 2 weeks. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by! I'm starting to get really nervous about not having the nursery started yet!